Jan 14, 2013

"Ill-informed speculation" - whoever could they mean?

The Daily Mail's royal correspondent today suggested on Twitter that the Royal family had been moved to quash suggestions the Duchess of Cambridge might be expecting twins in response to "ill-informed speculation":

Whoever could she mean? Well, there was the Telegraph's ludicrous front page lead last year:

But it wasn't just the Telegraph. There was loads of speculation about twins last year.

For example, this from the Daily Mail on 3
December:

Duchess's rare
illness could mean she is expecting twinsThe acute
morning sickness suffered by the Duchess of Cambridge causes nausea for up to
five months of pregnancy or even until the birth - and it increases the chance
of having twins.

Or how about this, from the Daily Mail on 6
December:

Duchess of
Cambridge more likely to be having twins because of her age and her acute
morning sicknessSome experts are predicting that
Kate and William will end up with twins – and if they do, there could be more
than just the usual parenting headaches ahead for the royal couple.

And then the Daily Mail told us on 10
December:

Former school
friend Jessica Hay …said: "Catherine would love twins and a lot of
people in their circle in London say it could indeed be the case that she is
expecting twins. If it were a boy and a girl, it would be a dream come true for
them both."

And then there was the time the Daily Mail showed us what a Kate Middleton look-a-like would look like holding two babies, accompanied with the caption "How Kate's 'twins' might look...":

You get the idea.

But it isn't going to be twins. So all of that was just ill-informed speculation.